Wow
Wow. When I started this, I had no idea I'd be putting in this much detail. But Now I've started, I can't stop! So, I'll do my best, and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 12: The Ghost Children
So, this was Kakariko? It seemed kinda… run down. Most of the buildings looked abandoned. But we'd barely got more than a glance at this ghost town before we were penned in again with three more twilight monsters. Link and I destroyed them in record time, and the barrier vanished.
We were next to a spring. Just like the ones near Ordon and Faron. And hovering over the water, gleaming feebly, was a familiar golden mist. The remains of the third light spirit.
It called out to us softly.
"To the hero… who was transformed into a blue-eyed beast… in the realm of shadows… In twilight… This way."
So, Link waded into the water towards the golden cloud.
The spirit spoke again. "I am… a spirit… of light… Hero… chosen by the Gods… Look for… my light… Gather the light stolen by the shadows… into this."
This spirit didn't waste any time. 'Save me.'
We were presented with a second Vessel of Light to find the spirit's tears.
"The insects of darkness… They are the form taken… by the evil that attached itself… to my scattered light… In this shadowy twilight… the shadow insects are invisible, much as the people from your light world are…. With the last of my power… let me show you… the locations… of the tears that have turned into… shadow insects. But… be careful… The darkness… now hunts you…"
I think it's been hunting us for some time, buddy. Got anything new to tell us?
So, with the locations of the twilight bugs, we set off.
Link noticed that the scent of his friends led into a house right next to the spring. Of course, he had to go find his friend before he started looking for the bugs. But how do we get in? The door's shut. From the roof maybe? There was a tree to the side of the building.
"Hey, you can climb up here!" I said, pointing at the tree. I floated up to the branch and Link leapt up next to me. Then to an awning on the wall, and finally to the roof. There was a pile of rubbish over in the middle of the roof. Link trotted over to look at it, but the moment he stepped on it, it gave way under his feet and we fell through the roof.
We found ourselves inside a circular room with a large owl totem pole in the middle. And sitting to the side were six spirits (there was also another spirit lurking near the window).
And the moment Link used his senses, he knew he had found who he was looking for. Or... at least most of them. Though the spirits of the children were sitting there, the older girl that was with Link at the spring wasn't. He said her name was Ilia. Who knows where she got to. Along with the four kids from Ordon, there was also a man with long black hair, and a girl that looked to be his daughter. The man near the window seemed rather flighty, even compared to the frightened children. We was wearing a visor, like those worn by people dealing with extreme temperatures.
"Cripes! I don't see those black brutes anywhere," said the man by the window. Well, yeah you don't see them. We killed them.
The man made a strange gagging sound. "They've gotta be hidin' somewhere, waitin' for their helpless little prey to come out! Then they'll FEAST!"
What a jerk! Talking like that in front of children! I don't have to care about the children to see that that guy is a complete idiot.
Then the other man, who was sitting with the children, started talking.
"We are safe as long as we remain in here, child. Be at ease," he assured the boy that Link told me was named Talo. His brother, the youngest of the group was Malo. The girl was Beth, and that little blonde boy who was with Link at the spring was Colin.
"Oh yeah?" the fat guy by the window retorted. "I wonder if the monsters out there agree with you. They sure didn't seem impressed by my bombs! How long do you think we can hold this sanctuary against beasts that strong, huh?" At least that other guy had sense enough to comfort the kids, not make them more afraid.
"Once they attack, it's OVER! Remember the lady from the general store? Just one of those things attacked her, and a whole gang from town went to save her! And what happened? She was already gone, and there were TWO monsters waitin'!" So, those monsters turned that lady into another monster? I didn't know they could do that. But then, I hadn't had too much experience with light beings before this.
But the fat guy wasn't finished terrifying the kids. "You connectin' the dots? That means that if we get attacked by them, then we'll be…"
"BARNES!" shouted the other man. So, the fat guy's name was Barnes. At least he shut up.
"Heh," Barnes grunted.
Beth dropped her head into her hands and started sobbing. The other man glared accusingly at Barnes. Barnes flipped his visor down and sank to the ground, half sobbing himself.
"Look, Renado,' he said to the man who was obviously named Renado, "All I mean to say is that it's risky here, too! Ain't you got some place we can hide?" He wasn't very subtle about it.
"There is… a cellar," Renado admitted slowly.
Barnes gasped and scurried over to Renado on all fours. "WHAAT! You've got a CELLAR?! Where's the entrance, man?"
"The entrance to the cellar is designed to open when all of the candles have been lit." Why on earth would you make a door open by lighting candles? Wouldn't a doorknob work fine?
Barnes snatched up a small torch and lit a second torch in front of the totem pole. He started to make his way towards the first candle, but Renado's daughter cautioned, "I… would not do that."
Barnes caught himself in mid crawl (he was still crawling), and fell on his stomach.
"When Father instructed me to secure the cellar, I saw insects like the beasts outside," the girl continued.
Barnes gasped and scuttled away from the torch.
Beth was still crying. Colin reached out to her. "Don't cry, Beth! It'll be OK!"
Beth yanked her hand away from him. But Colin continued. He seemed used to this kind of treatment. He seemked like an outcast from the rest of the group.
"Link is coming to save us all!"
Beth stopped crying, and Talo looked up as well (Barnes just made a confused grunt).
"I can feel it," Colin added.
"Hmph," Talo mumbled.
Wow. These kids sure have a lot of faith in Link. That's cute.
"These kids knew you'd come save them!" I said to Link. "What a hero! How sad, to be right in front of someone and not be noticed at all. Eee hee hee! You are chosen by the gods, and only that keeps you from turning into a spirit, or worse, into a dark monster, when you enter twilight. And no one knows what you have done… You may be doomed to toil in obscurity forever." That stinks, to save the world, and no one knows about it. Maybe if he succeeds, he can parade around and be all important. By then, I'll be back home and I won't care anymore.
"You're the type to worry about everything, I can tell… but don't fret over Princess Zelda! She chose this state of affairs, after all." She had by giving up the fight. "Anyway," I continued, "what's with having to light candles to get to the basement?! Not very subtle, is it? So, what are you going to do now? My lonely little hero… Eee hee hee!"
Link heaved a sigh, picked up the discarded torch, and ran around the room, lighting the candles. And once the last one was lit, the owl totem pole slid sideways, revealing a hole in the floor. It someone wants a cellar, shouldn't they put it to the side of the room, not in the middle of the floor?
Obviously, the open door attracted some attention from our ghost friends.
"What sorcery is this?!" Renado exclaimed. "The entrance to the cellar opening on its own. "Could those beasts have engineered even this?"
Barnes was muttering about how he didn't think that "this Link fella" would be able to do anything to save their village. Well, if I could, I'd leave you in twilight, buddy. Too bad we have to save ya.
Link approached the trap door, and dropped into the cellar.
